A chink of light for overseas applications

A chink of light for overseas applications. I hit the 10 week mark yesterday (interestingly both the call handler and the HMPO lady both agreed the 10 when started from when my on-line application was accepted, in my case June. 9) as such I thought it worth a bit of a push. To cut a long story short I was advised by the webchat to call the 0300 222 0000 No and I could escalate my application, which I did and pressed 8 then 3 and got through to a call handler, who agreed I could escalate. I was then put through to a very helpful lady at the passport office itself who agreed again I could esclate aas I need my passport for ID and to remain legally compliant (which I do) - for instance, I'm not allowed to drive without my passport here. The HMPO lady agreed that I should not have been advised send my old passport back and colour photopcopy would have sufficed, but it was to late to rectify that and we need to move on and get me new passport. I have to say I was not hold for more 2 mins either time so my fear of racking up a huge telephone bill did not materialise either. Of course it remains to be seen if anything happens from this point. The lady at HMPO said should could not guarantee a time scale for the escalation from this point in time, but keep an eye on the tracker. I will feedback on any developments as they/if they occur.